Everyone knows that commercials on TV are a bajillion dollar industry and, at the same time, the Anti-Commercial industry has been doing the lords work, and profitable work, to keep pace. What do I mean by “Anti-Commercial” industry? I guess the real start, as far as I can tell, of Anti-Commercial was TiVo. For the low, low price of simply waiting a little bit of time before watching your favorite show you could skip through the commercials. This war, one of millions of Industry Wars taking place constantly all around us, has grown and with it so to has grown its impact.
However, this article (is it pretentious for me to call my own blog post an article?) is not about the details of that war or about who’s side I’m on. The most common position to have on commercials is that, at any time that isn’t the Super Bowl, commercials range from mild inconvenience to cause of considerable frustration, according to each person’s preferences. Honestly, I don’t care much either way. I’ve got AdBlock on my web browser and I’m not ashamed of it but this article is about what exactly I’ve gained from commercials. First, let’s get the minor gains out of the way. These are real benefits to be sure but not close to The Big Two.
- Commercials keep me up to date on how technology is advancing
- They give me a general idea of the current fashion trends
- They let me know exactly how outdated my phone is, the more the better
- They introduce me to new and popular music quite often
- They keep me up to date on movies coming out soon
The first of the large benefits isn’t to hard to understand. You see, commercials are specifically designed to be appealing to as many people as possible. That much is obvious to everyone; if you’re trying to sell as many units as possible try to be appealing to as many people as possible. This goal is why Disney movies feel more like big commercials than other movies do. They’re top priority is selling units, in this case tickets, and therefore anything in the movie that could possibly be unappealing to anyone, which is always alot of things, is removed. But, Disney movies alone are just one company selling one product. The beauty of regular commercials is that they come from a bajillion of companies selling a bajillion products.
The realization to make here is that because of this goal to appeal to the maximum combined with the shear multitude and variety of products that leave no part of society untargeted you end up with a shockingly educational result. If someone from the future wanted to study our society, it’s values, how those values change over time, and how those values are expressed, I would say that watching our commercials is a great way of doing so. Obviously, you’d have to be able to separate the intention of the commercial from the contextual value of its contents but if you can do that you can learn alot.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say there’s a commercial for a toy, or diapers, or a vacuum, or any commercial where there might be parents in the commercial. The commercial begins with a crying baby and while the mom is off screen everyone else in the family looks pissed at each other because they can’t focus on whatever they’re doing. The husband is trying to do taxes or something and the other kids are doing homework or playing but the baby is just won’t shut up. Then the mom appears on screen heroically and changes its diaper, the baby stops crying and everyone’s happy and the mom and dad warmly hug each other. Diaper brand’s name appears and it ends.
Ok, now, what do you think that family looks like? Well, they’re white, that’s for damn sure. They look upper middle class with a suburban house. They’re clearly husband and wife, and probably have another kid or two in the background. The interior of the house is just the right amount of nice looking. You want the kitchen to look the way all the suburban moms watching the commercial would realistically want their own kitchen to look if they redid it. The other kids are probably a cute little blonde 5 year old and a slightly older boy who looks like a child version of the red power ranger. The wife is attractive with a modest hair style, not too attractive as to be resented but attractive enough to be just a tiny bit envied. The husband is more typical looking for a suburban dad. Is there anything else? Oh they might have a dog, probably a Labrador. We’ve all seen commercials that are basically exactly like this.
Now, let’s describe a diaper commercial for 2021 and see if maybe the differences could reflect the change in society, or at least what massive corporations think about how society has changed. We open on a dad who is already changing his kid’s diaper, he’s making some slightly comical faces to show that he’s focused and that he’s tackling this intimidating task with pride. The baby girl is so impressed that it just lies there and adorably watches daddy get the job done. Dad finishes with a proud look on his face, picks up his happy baby, as he holds her and smiles his spouse walks in from work and is happy to see that dad has everything under control. The brand name appears as they kiss and smile and it ends.
Now, what does this family look like? Well, they’re probably African-American, that’s for sure. It looks like they’re living in a relatively nice city apartment, probably painted walls rather than trendy exposed brick. The dad is “manly” looking in that he works out and looks mature. Probably not any other kids in the background. The spouse who comes home is definitely coming home from work and could be a man or woman. If it’s a man he’s probably not African-American himself. If it’s a woman she’s definitely African-American and she’s wearing obvious business attire that is also smartly fashionable. Is that it? No pets, no other kids, the commercial started mid diaper change… I guess that’s it.
It’s already blatantly obvious how different both commercials are and, at least in my opinion, how they represent broader changes in the values and ideologies of our society. To go over all of them would take too long; race, gender, sexuality, type of home, and gender roles are all different in obvious ways. Just as an example, in the 90’s commercial is not just that mom is the one that changes the diaper, but also that the rest of the family does nothing about the crying baby even though they’re all in the living room. They’re upset that mom isn’t doing what she’s supposed to. It’s mom’s job to make sure the family is comfortable. In the 2021 commercial it’s a man changing the diaper and, at least from our perspective, no hesitation about him doing it. The wife is apparently the bread winner and when she gets home from work she’s happy with her husband.
I think I’ve sufficiently shown how commercials can be educational on the topic of societal norms and ideals. I hear you ask the next question though. You ask, “Why exactly are commercials doing such a good job at this?” Well, that brings me to the main point in this article (again that feels lame). You see, these companies are all attempting the same thing. They are trying their darndest to emotionally manipulate you and this fact is the source of the greatest value commercials offer us.
If your capable, and willing, commercials can do a fantastic job of teaching you so much about emotional manipulation. Honestly, I feel like all the attention I paid to commercials growing up have actually provided substantial return on investment. I’m not gonna sit here and praise myself for being a savvy investor since my A.D.D. kinda forced me to pay attention but I’ve reaped the rewards all the same. I can’t imagine a better course on how to recognize, interpret, and subsequently resist the strategies institutions use to emotionally manipulate us than the television commercial. Let’s take the same two commercials we used to show social norm changes and see how they emotionally manipulate us. To be clear, I don’t think the 90’s commercial manipulates more and I’m not trying to make a statement about the ethics of these commercials. That’s a topic for another time.
First the 90’s commercial. The corporation is making a mistake here and limiting themselves with the idea that the only person worth advertising to is Mothers so there’s not much here in the way of manipulation of the father or anyone else. The first thing they show is something all mothers have experienced and that all mothers wish to not experience. They show an unhappy family and play one of the most emotionally impactful sounds in existence, a crying baby. Mom’s everywhere are already subconsciously looking for a solution. In walks the commercial mom and she’s everything your basic suburban mom wants to relate to; she’s attractive, taking action, solving this relatable problem, she’s even needed, albeit in kind of an unhealthy way. She picks up her crying baby and solves the problem as only a really good mother like this one can, by using this particular brand of diaper. With ease she does her job and now not only is the baby quiet but her kids are happier, better able to do homework, and her husband is suddenly affectionate and physical.
The 90’s commercial is saying, “You guys all have this problem! Well, look at this lady! Not only does she have the life you want, the kitchen you as a woman invariably want, but she’s also an expert at pleasing her family. Don’t you want to be her? Let’s see how the woman you could be does the job of being a mom. Oh my goodness, that was incredible! By using our product ALL of her problems have been solved, not just the baby! Don’t you want to be like this woman? Her kids are happy and well behaved. Her husband shows affection. She has no problems. Everyone loves her. If you use our product everyone will love you.” It’s not even hard to see the emotional manipulation and if you can see something you can understand it and to understand it is to have resistance to it.
What about the 2021 commercial? This commercial is saying something very different but still manipulative. It’s saying, “Hey fellas! Are you intimidated by, or bad at, the task of changing diapers? Are you tired looking incapable in front of your spouse? We believe in you! You see this big black guy who’s healthier than you, stronger than you, probably has a bigger penis than you and, because of all those things, is more manly than you are? He’s doing a great job! A real man who’s hot and cool doesn’t let something like changing a diaper defeat him! Hey ladies! Our diapers easy enough for even your husband to use. That’s right buy from us and your husband won’t be so lazy any more. More importantly than that though, we respect you and understand you. Even if you aren’t the one bringing home the bacon we know that mom’s are the real bread winners of any family. Not only is our product great, but we aren’t one of those faceless mega corporations that don’t care about you at all. We practically are you! We love you!”
Am I exaggerating these things? Personally, I really believe that I’m not but I also don’t take that much issue with it. Even if I am exaggerating my main point remains made. Commercials are a fantastic teaching tool in how to spot the ways corporations try to emotionally manipulate you and I’m thankful that I paid enough attention to them to learn something, to become immune to them, to realize what was going on and to use that information to improve my ability to spot, and resist all sources of emotional manipulation.
Does this mean I’m rooting for Commercials to win the war vs Anti-Commercial? No, but I think this is an interesting opportunity to show how even mundane and annoying things can be used as tools to learn from. As I apply this amount of examination to everything, not just commercials, I find that nothing is mundane or even truly annoying.
I’ll leave you with the worst commercial I’ve ever seen. This is the most disgustingly emotionally manipulative commercial I’m aware of. This commercial disgusts me.
The Mind of Joshypoo 